A wide variety of devices have been utilized for dispensing pelletized material such as dog food which consists of large uneven particles of food. These devices have utilized high r.p.m. agitators which require a high torque motor for rotation thereof. The agitators provide a small cross sectional area for rotation through material in an agitation chamber, the material is then dispensed through an orifice in the side of the agitation chamber. An example of these types of feeders is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,920,224 issued to the present Applicant.
The small cross sectional area of the agitator in the prior art devices is a disadvantage when utilizing manual force to power the agitator or in using low torque motors. Manual operation, as compared to automatic operation, requires an agitator that expels a large amount of pelletized material per each rotation of the agitator thereof. This requires an agitator that has a large surface area to provide additional agitation per rotation, as compared to the automatic devices, which provide a small cross sectional area. One of the disadvantages of a large cross sectional area agitator is that the pelletized material becomes trapped between the agitator itself and the sides of the outlet port through which the matter is expelled. Since the components that agitator assemblies are normally fabricated from are injected molded plastics, pelletized material trapped between the edges of the outlet port and the agitator assembly itself can result in breakage. This can also render manual operation of the agitator assembly very difficult in addition to increasing the required torque from an electrically driven unit.
In view of the disadvantages incurred in manual operation of a pelletized material feeder, there exits a need for an apparatus that alleviates the entrapment of particles between the agitator assembly and the outlet port and reduces the torque by the distributor and dispensing module design.